Social Networking and Manners

First of all, I have to stop laughing and put my chai tea down so it doesn't spew out my nose like a newly active volcano. Who would have thought that I, the bad girl of romance, would be giving lessons in etiquette? Certainly not me, though I do value manners. During my time as a corrections officer, I was teased by fellow officers for telling the inmates to "Please lock the fuck up." But they found they quite liked the please and thank you, but didn't think I was serious unless I dropped a few "f" bombs.

In this new cyberage, we're all learning new things. New ways to network, new ways to sell and market our work and ourselves, and also new ways to make ourselves into asscookies. Yes, I said it.

I've posted previously about how as an author you've put yourself into the public view and in a sense, you are always on. This applies to your social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Linkd, etc and so forth.

That's not to say that you can't have a personal account on these pages, but you better make sure that they aren't linked, because as a public figure, you can't just say whatever falls out of your mouth.

Now, when you look at what I say, that's part of my charm. Or not. But everything that flows from my keyboard is carefully composed. It may not be what you would say to your grandmother, but beneath all of my Amazon Goddess goodness, there is a woman with home training, who is at her core, professional. Yeah, so says me who dropped the "f" bomb in the first paragraph of her first post on a new blog. See, I can laugh at myself. Still, there was a please in the same sentence.

How does this apply? Well, let's take an example. If someone stops following you on Facebook what do you do? The correct answer here would be NOTHING. *holds up hand* Yes, I know you might want to ask the person why, but don't. If they felt the need to explain themselves to you, they would have. If you send them a message pleading with them to still be your friend or asking why they unfriended you that's not only needy, but it's also confrontational. What possible answer can you expect to that where you can maintain your professionalism?

In my experience, most people who do that don't really want to know why a person stopped following them, they want to guilt them into following or friending them again. These people are name collectors or attention whores who will cry about how the "mean girl stomped all over their ickle feelings", when really, it's not that serious.

Let's recap! Social networking is good, maintaining a presence is good, talking personally with your fans and readers... yep, still good. Making an asscookie of yourself by "confronting" someone over their "unfollow", bad.

Do you have any social networking piles you've stepped in?